I have worked nights (paper carrier) for three decades, and can't really sleep much at night even when I am not working, so sometimes I go for walks then. I live on the outskirts of a small city in Finland, and there are patches of forest right next to the apartment house, so mostly I go for the paths there during the summer months (there isn't that much crime, and what has happened around here has always happened during the day, I figure I am probably safer during the early hours of the morning, in the dark, than I am when I walk there during the day). Later in the summer, it can get pretty dark here around midnight too, but never completely due to the city lights, and I happen to have very good night vision for a human. But not so good I could see the animals, and since there are lots of foxes - well, imagine you are walking in a forest path in near darkness, barely enough light that you can see the path, and then suddenly you hear that damn scream right next to you. 😆 They have nearly given me a heart attack a couple of times.
Foxes getting more dog- like with human interaction is so mind blowing, it proves their cousins wolves went through the same transformation and that there’s a universal benefit of having this set of traits as part of the symbiosis
They even found similar mutations in humans, called Williams Syndrome. People with the condition often have childlike faces and a tendency to feel trust and affection to everyone around them, including complete strangers.
As an arctic fox fan, you might be interested to know that arctic foxes are the only mammal native to Iceland. It's believed that they crossed over on the ice sheet from Greenland during the ice ages. So there must have been a population living entirely on the ice, subsisting on sea birds. This is also how they survived on Iceland.
@@dunyacaliskan7495usually we refer to an animal as native if it arrived in a place without human intervention and the current local ecosystem has evolved over time to include them. Technically they were native to Iceland before the bridge melted, they just didn’t go back over. It’s the same we think of people as being indigenous to an area. The migration happened so many years ago that they’ve actually evolved characteristics beneficial to living in that area.
@@nima9340 I thought there would be arctic rodents like lemmings, too, but when you think about it, there would be no way for them to cross the ice - nothing for them to eat! Specializing in sea birds worked for the foxes, and still does.
Someone needs to send this channel to biology teachers. These videos are perfect dor those chill fridays before breaks. Its so entertaining/informative
and here I am, watching these videos as a biology teacher. I usually gather information for fun biology related facts from these, that I can use to spice up the lessons
Yeah I would show his videos if I was a professor, and I would love to watch them if I was a student. I wish I had a lust for learning when I was in school 😕
My parents had a family of red foxes living right at the edge of their farm last year. They were conserned about the cats, but it's said that a fox won't target a healthy cat unless necessary, and seems like they had enough food around. My parents saw the pups even on the yard close to the house at times. They didn't get too close since the dog's fenced area goes around the house. It was neat to hear about the fox pups, sadly I only visited during the day so I never saw them. But I have a cool deer skull that they left in the ditch after a meal 😂
@@adult8325 Depending on the deer the fox may have killed it. Where I live we have roe deer, and they are pretty small, their fawns and juveniles are easily killable for a determined fox.
I don't think Foxes need the risk to deal with cats. Coyotes are fine cause they are larger. Foxes with their size will probably lose more than they can gain in a fight with a Cat. felines are terrifyingly powerful you know.
A momma red fox made her den under a wood pile at the edge of the property at my last place and in the spring her kits would come out and wrassle in the yard every morning for 3 years in a row, cutest thing you could imagine seeing!
3:54 I took a wilderness education and survival course in college (learning survival and naturalism skills as well as how to teach them) and one of the stated end goals of the course's techniques was to learn how to move quietly enough and with enough awareness of natural ques to find a fox and approach it without spooking it. No one succeeded, but now my students find it genuinely spooky how quietly I can move around the classroom when I choose to.
Only once in my life have I seen a fox with my own eyes. It was after the blasting of rock to make way for a new neighborhood beside my own. A red fox with her 2 babies in tow poked their heads from the grass as I drove past as if to say "There is no where left for us." The line you gave about their penchant for memorizing human activity and avoiding us gives me hope they are doing just fine, denning just off the beaten paths.
ive also only seen a fox in person only once. i was being driven to school by my mom and i saw two foxes in a field, one was lying down while the other was doing something, not sure what.
It's really fascinating, the bear probably knows it's a waste of energy going for something that can just fly away. Damn, these animals are really smart.
I love them so much. They're like the only wild animals I have to stop myself from having a real "why friendshaped" moment before reminding myself wild animals should be wild. Also happy birthday!
Can I just say....foxes becoming more droopy eared and curled up tailed the more people friendly they got gave me goosebumps with how that definitely sounding similar to many dogs
In the UK red foxes are domesticating themselves in urban areas like cats and dogs did 😅 like, they just walk into homes like they own the place and are chill af 😂😂
@@VillianousKittyI was in London for one night and one _literally_ ran across my path, around Portobello Road. The most British thing I could imagine 😅 I think it was scavenging trash cans
I've never actually seen a fox in person, so I assumed they just.. weren't a thing in my home state of Arizona. Turns out, they absolutely _are_ a thing here. Seems like they're just very good at going unseen even in a desert hellscape like this.
Last summer I found a fox just chilling on my front porch hanging out midday (it was like 90 degrees out too). Apparently my St Bernard had befriended the local fox because she’s an absolute failure at guard dogging.😂
There’s a lot of them they’re stealthier than coyotes, but Ik for a fact there’s a population of kit foxes that lives on ASU campus, you’ll see them in groups of two or three
Happy birthday! Thank you for educating people on why access to a domesticated population does NOT mean something makes a good pet. So many people see "domestic" and assume the being is fit for all lifestyles. Frankly, we shouldnt be domesticating new creatures at all. We have enough and we can barely handle those.
@rookregent5623 At this point in the breeding project, I don't even know if I'd call them _domesticated._ It took dogs thousands of years to get to where they are now, and cats have been on that road and still kind of are. I've heard people theorize on why cats are sometimes less friendly and people pleasing than dogs, and the theory is that they just haven't lived with humans long enough yet. Those foxes have got a _loooong_ way to go before they're truly domesticated. And people who adopt one expecting it to be just an exotic dog got another thing coming.
@@namelessnavnls8060 EXACTLY. Trying to engineer thousands of years of progress in a few generations is impossible. They're just friendlier wild animals. We need to stick with the projects in progress we have if we want to keep companions of other species around. Domestication attempts at this point in the world would fail for many reasons, not the least of which is negative effects on the wild population.
@@namelessnavnls8060A tame animal and a domestic animal are two very different things that I think people often get confused. A fox may be tamed over their lifetime but it will always be a wild animal. Like you said, it would take thousands of years to domesticate a species.
It really doesn't take that many years if you do what these Russians did: analyze _the genes_ that make foxes tolerant. They ain't doing it on trial and error like pre-historic wolfdog enthusiasts, y'all.
One fine day with a woof and a purr A baby was born and it caused a little stir No blue buzzard, no three-eyed frog Just a feline canine little CatDog. CatDog, CatDog, alone in the world is a little CatDog! Out on the road or back in town All kinda critters putting CatDog down Gotta rise above it gotta try to get along Gotta walk together gotta sing this song. CatDog, CatDog, alone in the world is a little CatDog! CatDog (CatDog) CatDog (CatDog) Alone in the world is a little CatDog! CatDog (CatDog) CatDog (CatDog) Alone in the world is a little CatDog!
The guy holding the fox kit at 13:00 had me almost screaming, it’s so cute! And holy crap, I never knew how BEAUTIFUL cross foxes were and didn’t know they existed until you talked about them!
I live in the UK on the outskirts of London and over the course of the last 10 years, foxes became more and more prominent. From me seeing one was such a big deal, I even filmed it when it showed up to every other night I see them walking down the street at night. And even more frequently, hear them nattering and screaming at each other. About an hour before I made this comment I heard them. I even managed to find fox puppies in my local park 2 years ago!
The red fox is the Rathalos of the fox world - complete with sub- and rare species. Also congrats on another successful trip around the sun. Here's hoping for many more
*HAPPY BIRTHDAY!* 🎉 My dude is the newer generations' David Attenborough - Imparting his immense knowledge of animals on the masses & doing so in an incredibly entertaining & articulate manner! Props my dude!
I Lived in Annapolis for a year in an upscale thickly wooded neighborhood, foxes were EVERYWHERE! And it’s true they make some of the absolute craziest sounds you’ve never even imagined 😂, and ALL night to.
An illustration of foxes' mutual hostility even to their own species: -At the beginning (edit: and at the end, I think) you include a clip from Save-a-Fox- There's a wildlife rescue organization focused on foxes called Save-a-Fox. Their rescues are either surrendered pets (because some folks don't find out until too late) or fur farm culls. One of the latter came to them a short time ago already missing an ear, so they name him Vincent Van Gogh. They're very cautious about introducing new younger foxes to the population, allowing them to mix only when they are sure of compatibility. Well, Vincent wasn't at that stage yet. Not long ago he was in a play yard for the younger foxes, which is separated from the adult foxes for safety. It seems one of the adults burrowed underneath the bite guard just to get to Vincent and attacked, injuring one of his legs so badly it needed amputation. And these are well cared-for, well-fed foxes. Imagine how it gets when there's an actual struggle for survival. Foxes are genuinely hard to spot. I live in an area with lots of gray foxes (and cougars, and coyotes, and bobcats) and I've seen them maybe 5 times over the past 10 years. One of those times was early in the morning when one of my cats decided to get into an argument with one. There was no physical contact, and they're smaller foxes, so I don't think the cat was in any danger, but nothing was a better illustration that they're really CAT.EXE running on Canine hardware. The body language was absolutely identical. It might as well have been two cats arguing.
Just fyi, cats and foxes are natural enemies. They both eat the same size and type of prey, meaning they're competition to each other. Foxes will kill a cat just because they saw it. Even feral cats can have a hard time with a fox, and most housecats don't stand a chance. I'm glad it was a small fox and that everything was ok! Your presence undoubtedly helped keep your kitty safe, too 🙂
@@nobody8328 Most housecats will have no problems dealing with foxes Cats are much faster, and when they fight they are 100% serial. Foxes can't afford to get injured and will almost always back down from a cat who takes up an aggressive posture.
@@nobody8328 I assumed that's what the argument was about and the likelihood she'd get badly hurt was why I went out there -- but she did NOT want to back off. When the fox finally did, she went after it before I could catch her. This cat, now unfortunately deceased, wasn't very big, but she was capable of intimidating all other cats and most dogs regardless of size. It's possible the fox would have backed off even if I hadn't gone out, but it was certainly not worth taking a chance on it.
A fox lives near me. I couldn't be happier! I've only seen her twice (and one time it was from a distance), and have heard her screaming twice (it was unmistakably a fox scream). I've lived here 4.5 years. Yup, they're pretty elusive.
I was in Yellowstone once visiting Mammoth Hot Springs, and a cross fox walked right past our car and crossed the road a little ways behind. Only wild fox I've ever seen, and it was a shiny! (Also, credit to my older sister for spotting it first, she was very proud of that)
If you hang out on a back patio at night anywhere around food, you will see them. Well, first you'll see raccoons. But it's kind of like they're point for all other animals, because if you have patience each night, put something out and just sit still for a half hour, after the raccoons show up, everything will show up. It's kind of peaceful.
My dad's neighbor feeds foxes so we do see some (fat ones) in daytime or early morning, especially since my parents grow meat chickens and they die sometimes. Once the neighbor had a deer leg brought at this doorstep by the family he feeds
@@Hollylivengood I've never had them visit the same place day after day it's usually a couple of days between visits. That makes baiting and killing them hella annoying.
No, even worse/better: They are working mix of cute and cool, edging this line which makes them have absolute pretty privalage. And we all accept this.
My mom has always told me I look like a fox. You have explained to me why: “can look like it’s giving you the side eye while staring directly at your face”
At 11:08 that kit fox is Keira at an Animal Sanctuary I volunteered at in Reno, Nevada (Animal Ark for those curious). I got to feed her a few times, though we figured despite being in a semi-outdoor enclosure she was still hunting a good deal of her own food. I've seen her catch every kind of rodent native to the area, multiple kinds of lizards, and a snake at one point. I spent hours watching her and the other foxes there. My dream job is to be able to study foxes of any sort in any habitat. They fascinate me to no end with their subtle and clever ways, even if it means studying them is kind of a pain. This video made me really happy, as I feel they're often overlooked as 'common' or 'uninteresting' when they are so more complex with their unique family structures, languages, and observative natures than we can understand with our current knowledge.
I'm so glad I stumbled upon your channel recently! I've been binging all of your content and it's so cool to find out all of these facts about animals. I loved learning about the domestication experiment in my Animal Behavior class, it was cool to see you mention it here! Thanks for all the great videos, looking forward to more stuff!
I used to live in the Japanese countryside and red foxes surrounded my particular area. I'd often see adults walking/dashing down the streets late at night and occiasionally a kit. They're so CUTE.
We had a grey vixen who lived near us and would show up in our back yard to see what food the Husband had put out for the birds & squirrels. One summer, she brought her kits a couple of times. That was awesome. And Happy Birthday!🥳
Foxes are pretty common where I live. They actually seem to actively choose to have their babies in town, and I would often see one(not usually the same one) driving home when I worked night shift. I also once saw a massive coyote when I worked night shift. Honestly coyotes are a lot harder to ignore since they make a lot of noise.
I am very grateful for your channel. I use your videos as a learning tool for my 6th grade classes . It breaks up the monotony of the day for my students. Fantastic work !
The Tibetan fox looks like a high person was asked to draw a fox from memory, but halfway through they forgot what they were drawing and finished it with wolf parts. They even used both color palettes. 😂 I like the cute baby face and chibi proportions of the fennic, and growing up I liked arctics, but my fave still has to be the og red fox. Cat software on dog hardware with the voice between a cheetah and a dog kept on leash, in visual but not physical range of their favorite person. My dad told me for years about the fox domestication story. People friendly foxes? Neat. Housepet? Nope.
You waited till the end of the video to tell us it's your birthday so you can focus on the video, that is what I call being professional. Happy birthday man 🎉🎉🎉
I remember looking so hard for grey foxes in wild areas. The first time I actually saw one was while hanging out at my university’s farming area. This university is close to Washington DC, and I didn’t know we had grey foxes in the area. Thank God I had my camera with me.
I live in Israel. When the lockdown happened, foxes were freakin' EVERYWHERE! I had no idea so many of them were in my city alone. I've seen a few when I would walk my dog late at night, but this was crazy. We also have jackals (seen often) and wolves (rare and highly endangered), but man, these foxes had no shame in their game.
Norwegian living in Morocco the last few years here. I've been living at the edge of a forest for the last three years. Freaked me out when my neighbor casually mentioned that there are foxes here and that my dogs tolerate them sleeping by the creek. In Morocco dude. Wtf.
@deathbringer9893 AFAIK there is, but it was only implemented after the number of wolves in Israel went into the double digits. This reminds me of a funny urban bylaw that exists in my city (also in Israel) which bans pet bears from beaches, despite the fact that the only native subspecies of bear, the Syrian brown, only survives in captivity.
Happy Birthday, Good Sir! I love learning more about animals I *thought* I already knew a lot about. I also really appreciate how you always take the time to explain why wild animals make terrible pets, no matter how friend-shaped they are. And right now, I *especially* appreciate that you tell your viewers to "Hug your mother" because mine just passed two weeks ago, and I'm so glad I hugged her *all the time* while I could. It's right up there with "drink water" as one of the most important things for a person's wellbeing.
happy birthday, mamadou!! you are a gift that never ever stops giving. as someone whose most favourite animal is the fox, i'm so glad we have a whole video dedicated to them -- but i am also of the mind that they should never be house pets lmao
One thing that wasn’t mentioned: as he said with bat eared foxes, they live in complex social structures (called skulks) that usually consist of a mated pair and their kits. What wasn’t said, however, was that the vast majority of fox species (red foxes, arctic foxes, fennec foxes, and so on) also live in these social structures. These skulks are more complex than a wolf pack, and often times urban red foxes will form close alliances between skulks, sharing territory/food and offering aid in raising kits. Again, almost every fox species operates like this.
One thing to note about that Carnivore meetup you mentioned is that the meetup is of the Order Carnivora, which is the catlike and doglike order (literally split between caniform (doglike) and feliform (catlike)). I've found tooth structure to be one way to distinguish that order, since they often have distinct fangs with incisors, a slight gap, and then molars. When I worked as an interpretor at a zoo, I referred to species in that order as Carnivorans instead of Carnivores because it creates a distinction. For example, the Trash Panda is a Carnivoran, but like the fox, they will eat anything that can remotely be seen as food, though percentage wise they tend to have more plant matter in their natural diet than foxes. TL;DR: While it's not official that I'm aware of, Carnivoran is animals from Carnivora, Carnivore is meat eating. Update: Bat Ear Fox's teeth have hauntingly human molars. Do note while they still fit the dentition definition of most Carnivorans with long canines, incisors, and a gap before molars, the Bat Ears clearly chew their food more than most Carnivorans.
Anyone who’s ever had a significant interaction with a red fox is never the same, they’re amazing animals. I have a video on my channel of Buddy, my urban fox friend I had for years, introducing me to his kits.
@@herpderp3916Do you have evidence to back this up? From everything I've seen, Mikayla and the rest of the team are saving foxes and other exotics that would be otherwise euthanized.
The Tibetan Fox looks like he's either utterly unhappy to the point of not giving a damn anymore or disgusted by having plebeians around it. Edit: Also Happy Birthday.
Foxes are fascinating not only their appearance which has gotten some great mythologies especially in Japan but it being able to climb trees which is something for a canine and the ability to thrive in various environments is something you don't really see in many animals speaks for itself. There's actually a family of foxes that live near or in my Nan's backgarden truly fascinating creatures.
The tibetan fox made me fall to the goddamn floor while laughing. I must thank you for that rush of dopamine. And also thanks for my daily dose of "animals are amazing" .
I’ve only seen a gray fox once in my life, but I was extremely lucky. It was in El Sobrante in my grandmother’s old neighborhood, & when I was walking my dog, the fox came out of the bushes for a mere two seconds before darting back in. It was one of the greatest wildlife encounters in my life. 😊
Happy belated, my guy! Hope your birthday was a good one! Also, SaveAFox is a nice channel to see shenanigans at a fox sanctuary. I'll always adore Finnegan, the rascal! 🥰
We always loved foxes. We had a red fox that would walk out into the yard in the morning and watch us eat breakfast because our dining room had tall windows. I'm pretty sure the fox used this to know when we left so that he could poke around the house to eat whatever there was around while nobody was home.
Happy birthday❤ my husband got a job doing tours for Yellowstone and the surrounding areas of Jackson, WY and he’s been deep diving into all the information he can find about the native plants and animals, as well as the geography of the area. One day I showed him your video of the wolves who almost became extinct in Yellowstone, as well as the one featuring the team work with the ravens and wolves. He loved it and he now retells the stories to the visitors, and they love it as well. I appreciate the time and effort you take to produce these videos and I especially love the terms you creatively come up with. Anyway, happy birthday and I can’t wait to see more of your content in the future!
I’ve seen a cross fox! I’ve been trying to figure out why it looked like a red Fox but was more silver/grey with a slight tint of red but couldn’t really find anything that matched. That’s so cool 🤩
Oh! Happy Birthday to you! You’re one of my favorite RU-vidrs, top 5. For all you do for us lowly lovers of critters, I thank you 🤙😊🎉🎂 Stay golden, Pony Boy!
Foxes are one of the few creatures that can turn deranged, sometimes pained sounding screams and giggles into some of the cutest noises on earth. Also happy birthday, man.
They also chirp. Look up “Kevie loves candy corn” it’s from an old RU-vid channel where this woman was taking care of these two foxes named Kevie and Bridgette. They had a fairly well sized outdoor living area for them, she’s very caring for them, and also the candy corn she is feeding Kevie is made from real honey that they sell at the store she owns (meaning unlike sugar it’s something she can eat and not end up getting sick from it).
I absolutely love how witty everything he says is. He keeps me rolling and I repeat his one liners to everyone that will listen to an old woman trying to educate them on animals. Wish I could just channel him.
